Samsung unveils Galaxy Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo smartwatches

Mobile World Congress is now upon us and Samsung is wasting no time in showcasing their latest wares. The South Korean electronics giant on Sunday announced two new smartwatches at the annual trade show in Barcelona, Spain.

In a move that few likely anticipated, the wearables forego Google’s tried and true Android operating system for Tizen, the homegrown open-source operating system based on Linux. The announcement came ahead of the company’s Unpacked 5 event scheduled to take place on Monday where most believe we’ll see the Galaxy S5 for the first time.

The Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo feature a 1.63-inch Super AMOLED display operating at 320 x 320 pixels, a 1GHz dual-core processor, 512MB of RAM, 4GB of on-board flash storage, a 2.0-megapixel camera (Gear 2 only), a heart rate sensor, gyroscope and a pedometer. Additionally, the device can connect to Bluetooth headphones and even be used as a remote to control televisions and the like via infrared.

Both watches feature improved battery life over the first-generation Galaxy Gear. Instead of having to charge the watch each night, Samsung claims the new devices can last two to three days on a single charge thanks to a 300mAh battery.

Elsewhere, the camera on the Gear 2 has been moved from the wrist strap to the main body of the watch. The Gear 2 Neo doesn’t feature a camera, a move that makes it about 13g lighter than its bigger brother. Considering the low resolution of the camera, that’s a tradeoff that many would likely be alright with.

Availability for both the Galaxy Gear 2 and the Gear 2 Neo is slated for sometime in April. Pricing, however, hasn’t been revealed as of writing.